Dental bridge



July 31, 1928. 1,678,779 c. s. KILE DENTAL BRIDGE Filed Dec. 51, 1925 qxwfl'meoo /6, 2

Patented July 31, 1928.

CLIFFORD S. KILE, OF HU'I'CHINSON, KANSAS.

DENTAL BRIDGE.

Application filed December 31, 1925. Serial No. 78,599.

The invention relates to an improved dental bridge for mounting either a root stump tooth ora saddle tooth of proper design at any point needed in either the upper or lower set of teeth.

One object of the invention is to provide new and improved means for detachably securing the artificial tooth to the bridge in such a manner as to permit quick and easy substitution 01' a new tooth for one which may have been injured in any manner, the construct-ion being such that no screws, pins, cement, etc., are needed to detachably secure the tooth in place, although cement is preterablv used.

Another aim is to provide a construction which will. insure that the gum shall not be injured in any manner when removing one tooth and substituting another, this being accomplished by engaging the root extension in or with the gum and then reel:-

,. i ing or cusp.

A still further aim is to provide a retaining shell for the artificial tooth which is open only at its outer or buccal side and at its gum side, said shell having an occlusal portion which covers and protects the occlusal or biting portion of the artificial tooth, and is additiohally advantageous in that it may readily be built onto or ground to con form to the occlusal face or edge of the coacting tooth.

Other objects are to provide a construction which will not form a food trap, will not irritate the gum, will be verv el'iic-i nt as a niasticating medium, will re re either the lirogml or [he huccal contour of the alveolar arch, will. give an unsually natural appearance even where it engages the gum, will protect the teeth of porcelain or the like, on all sides but the front and hence will lessen the hanger of chipping or cracking when. chewing. can be used in either a freshly extracted tooth case or in onewhcre the natural tooth has been out a long time and the um has fully healed, may be used at any nee dry point in the mouth with only the necessity of changing the design of tooth, will permit grinding of the tooth to accurately it the space it must occupy, etc.

With the foregoing in view, the invention resides in the novel subject matter hereinafter described and claimed, the description being supplemented by the accompanying drawings.

Figure 1 is an outer side elevation of a dental bridge embodying my improvements.

Fig. 2 is a vertical transverse sectional view as indicated by line 22 oi Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is a vertical sectional view on line 33 of Fig. 2.

Fig. 4 is a detail horizontal section on the plane of line lat of Figs. 2 and 3.

Fig. 5 is ahorizontal section as indicated by line 55 of Fig. 2.

Fig. 6 is an outer side elevation of the b 'idge removed from the natural teeth and also having its artificial tooth detached.

' 7 is a vertical sectional view on line f Fi 6 l o g iFig. 8 is a perspective view showing more particularly the construction of the artillcialrtoothretaining-shell of the bridge.

Fig. 9 is a per pective View of the artifiing the tooth body into position .-n its bach- 'cial tooth shown in certain preceding ligures.

Fig. 10 is an inner side elevation of this tooth.

Fig. 11 is a side view looking at right angles to Fig. 10.

Fig. 12 is an elevation of the tooth and a transverse section on its retaining shell, illustrading the manner in which said tooth may be inserted or removed.

Fig. 13 is a view similar to Fig. 12 but showing the'tooth completely seated in the shell.

Fig. 14- is a view similar to Fig. 13 but showing a saddle tooth, whereas the other figures disclose a root-stun'ip tooth.

A metallic bridge is shown, preferably formed of gold, said bridge including the required number or? shells i r the artificial. teeth which are to be suh-tituted for natural teeth. In the present disclosure, only one shell S is shown, and any desired means may be employed for securing this shell to two natural teeth N, caps C being shown for this purpose, said caps and shell being inte grally united with each other or otherwise rigidly secured together. The caps C mav be of conventional form and secured to the teeth N by cement or in any other adequate manner.

A construction is shown for use in the upper set of teeth and while this construction will be hereinafter specifically described, itis to be understood that such terms as upper, lower, etc., are relative rather than limiting.

The shell S is open only at its gum side or upper end, and at its outer or buccal side, may possess the form disclosed by certain of Figs. 1 to 13, the form disclosed in Fig. 14:, or other desired form, according to the shape and location of the tooth to be replaced. The construction disclosed in the first group of figures of the drawings will now be described and an explanation of'Fig. 14 will follow.

The shell comprises two spaced vertical side walls 15 which diverge outwardly and have widened upper ends 15' and straight outer edges 15'. An inner wall 16 is inte grally joined to the side walls 15 and has its upper or gum end 16 inwardly offset from its lower end 16", these upper and lower wall portions being connected by an outwardly declined wall portion 16". This portion 16 preferably curves upwardly to the portion 16 and the latter by preference curves horizontally to the widened ends 15 of the side walls 15. These widened ends are provided on their inner faces with integral ribs 17 -which are spaced upwardly from the wall portion 16, are substantially parallel with the latter, and increase in height from the outer or buccal side of the shell to the inner or lingual side thereof. The lower end of the wall portion 16 is formed with an outwardly extending flange 18 which is adapted to underlie and protect the occlusal portion of the artificial tooth, this occlusal portion being in the present instance, the incisal or biting edge of the tooth.

The tooth T to be held by the shell S, is provided with a body portion 19 for tight wedging between the widened wall ends 15", said body portion having a lower side 19 to contact tightly with the wall portion 16, having inwardly converging side surfaces 19 to tightly contact with the aforesaid wall portions 15", and having an inner surface 19 to abut the upper wall portion 16, the sides 19 being formed with outwardly tapered grooves 20 to tightly receive the ribs 17. The occlusally disposed surface 19 and the corresponding wall portion 16 are somewhat curved, at least at their lingual portions. The body 19 is formed with a clownward extension 21 at its front portion to contact with the wall portion 16 of the shell and to lie between and in tight contact with the relatively narrow lower ends of the shell walls 15, and the entire front portion of the tooth is provided with laterally extended vertical. flanges 22 which extend in front of and abut the straight edges 15 of the shell walls 15. Initially, these flanges 22 may project laterally beyond the side walls 15 as shown for instance in Fig. 4, and they may be ground away to any required extent to permit proper fitting of the tooth T in the space which it is to occupy, it being observed that this grinding is confined to the tooth only and not performed upon the shell.

The lower end or incisal edge 23 of the tooth T rests tightly upon the flange 18 and is effectively covered and protected by this flange, but it will be observed that the latter is not visible at the front of the tooth. Not only does this flange protectthe tooth T against splitting or chipping when masticating, but said flange constitutes a metal portion which may be readily ground into desired shape, according to the formation of the occlusal portion of the natural tooth' with which the artificial tooth is to coact. Attention is further to be directed to the fact that by covering he tooth on prac ti cally all sides except its front, it is still further protected against chipping or splitting.

Moreover, certain other advantages which w1ll be clear from the first portion of this specification, flow from this construction.

- The upper or gum end of the tooth T is of substantially hemispherical form as indi'cated at 24 and it projects beyond the shell S and is so shaped as to abut the upper edge of said shell. This formation 24 is termed a root-stump and said stump is intended for reception in a gum cavity, from which a natural tooth has been withdrawn, and in a short while, the gum will snuggle down around .the root stump and the artificial tooth will have substantially the same appearance as a natural tooth, even at its juncture with the gum. This artificial tooth is usually formed of baked porcelain, suitably glazed, and its efficiently glazed root stump has no more tendency to irritate the gum, than a glass eye has to irritate the eye socket.

After the metallic bridge has been secured in place, the artificial tooth T may be inserted into the shell in the manner depicted in Fig. 12, that is by first canting the tooth so as to permit entrance of the root stump 2st into the gum socket, and then tilting or rocking the tooth downwardly and inwardly. The widened inner ends of the grooves 20 are spaced forwardly of the wide rear extremities of the ribs 17 during the initial tilting movement and they readily permit the necessary relative angling of the tooth and the shell, and when said tooth is finally forced entirely into the shell as shown in Figs. 2 and 18, it wedges in place with a suliicient degree of tightness, to positively prevent accidental detachment, and any thrusts on the tooth, toward the gum, tend to force said tooth more tightly into the shell, due to the inclination of the contacting surfaces of the ribs 17 and the grooves 20. Before the tooth can be removed from the shell, it is necessary to forwardly force the projecting upper end of said tooth to some alt) extent, thus looseningthe engagement ofthe ribs and grooves and thereby'permitting angling of the tooth as shown in Fig. 12. lVhen this loosening of the rib and groove engagement is efi'ected, the necessary angling or rocking maybe easily done to permit easy removal of the tooth without inj uring or irritating the gum.

The form of tooth so far described, is'of course not applicable to all parts of the dental arch, but it is to be understood that my invention maybe used with slight variations, for securing any artificial tooth or teeth in place upon a bridge. Fig. 14: will give an idea of a variation which is necessary in some instances, due to the necessary shape of the tooth- T to be substituted for a natural tooth. This tooth is provided with a body portion 19 identical with the body portion 19 and formed with grooves 20 for engagement with two'ribs identical with the ribs 17. Theside walls of the shell and the inner and lower portionsthereof are necessarilyvaried to accommodate this form of tooth. In the view under consideration, the inner or lingual wall 16 is merely provided at its lower portion with an outwardly pro.- jecting, inclined wall portion 16 which corresponds to the wall portion 16, the front edge 18" of this wall portion 16", being thinned so that it is not visible from the front of the tooth, even though it extends substantially to the front side of the latter. In this construction shown in Fig. 14, the backing or shell is in the form of a cusp. The occlusal portions 16'and 18 may be eflectively built onto or ground ascircumstances may dictate, for proper" co-action with the occlusal' face of the opposing, natural tooth.

The tooth illustrated in Fig. 14., further differs from the construction first described, in that it is a saddle toothinstead oia rootstump tooth, the upper end of said tooth being transversely channeled as disclosed at 24 to seat upon rather than Within a portion of the gum. ,This tooth is used in cases where the natural tooth has been absent for some time and the gum has'coinpletely healed over. The root-stump tooth however is employed when a bridge is to be inserted shortly after making an extraction. In both. cases, the gum-engaging or root'extension on the tooth body PIOJGCtS beyond the metal backing or cusp and the tooth body is applied to the latter while fixed in the mouth, by'first dipping the'extension into the root socket or into position on the gum and then by a rocking movement of the tooth body bringing the. latter to its operative position on the backing or cusp without scraping or injuring the gum.

The tooth T may be inserted and removed by the same operations as the tooth T and both forms of construction will be greatly advantageous.- In neither instance, is any cement orother fastening means necessary to secure the artificial tooth to the shell, (cement being used merely as a protection against bacterial invasion) as the wedging artificial tooth projects through and beyond the open gingi'val end'of the shell, said pro jecting gingiv-al end ofthe tooth-having substantially the same lingual-to-buccal-orlabial-dimension and other transverse dimensions as the natural tooth which it is to replace. Moreover, this projecting end of the tooth is shaped either as a saddle'or a root-stump tooth, tocontact with" the gum at boththe lingual and buccal or labial portions ofsaid projectingend. e

As excellent results have been obtained from the general construction disclosed, it is preferably followed. However, within the scope of the invention a's claimed,sli-ght variations may bemade.

1. A dental bridge having an artificialtooth retaining-shel'lopen only at its outer side and its gum side, said shell having an innerwall portion, a pair of, opposed side Walls diverging outwardly from said" inner wall portion, and an" inclinedlfwall portion extending outwardly fro nand at arr-obtuse angle to said inner wall portion, said side walls'having ri'bs-on-their inner faces spaced from and substantially parallel with said inclinedwall portioinsaid ribs increasing in height from their outer to their inner ends; and an artificial tooth whose body portion is fitted snugly into said shell and is provided Withtapered grooves receiving said ribs, said tooth projecting beyond the shell for engagement with the gum, the portion of the tooth thus projecting being of substantially the same cross-sectional size as the corresponding portion of the natural tooth. whichit replaces,- said shell having an occlusal portion covering and protecting the occlusal or biting end of theartificial tooth the latter having-vertical edge portions extending across the outer edges of said side walls.

29A dental bridge having an artificialtooth retaiuingshellopen only at its outer side and its gum side, said shellco'mprising a pair-of opposechoutwardly' divergingside walls which are widenedtowa-rdtheir gum ends, an inner wall whose'gumend is inwardly. ofi'set from its otherendan'di's connected therewith by an inclined wall portion,

a flange extending outwardly from said other end of said back wall, and a'pair of ribs formed on the inner faces of said side walls at the widened ends of the latter, said ribs increasing in height from their outer to their inner ends and being substantially parallel with said inclined wall portion; and an artificial tooth having a body portion snugly fitted into the portion of the shell between said widened ends of said side walls and "formed with tapered grooves snugly receiving said ribs, said body portion of the tooth engaging said inclined wall portion and having a vertically extended front portion which lies against the aforesaid other end of said inner wall, said extended front portion having an incisal edge which engages the aforesaid flange and is protected by the latter, said tooth having vertical edge portions abutting the outer edges of said side walls, the end of the tooth remote tromsaid incisal edge extending from the shell and being Oil substantially the same cross-sectional size as the corresponding portion of the natural tooth which it replaces.

i 3. An artificial tooth comprising a tooth body and a backing, the tooth body having a root extension and a substantially convex occlusally disposed portion, said backing having a complementary substantially concaved portion, said tooth body and backing having opposed means constructed and arranged to permit the tooth body to be rocked into operative position with the backing, while the root extension is substantially rotatably engaged in the gum socket and the backing is rigidly supported in spaced relation to thegum socket.

4. A dental bridge, having a backing open only at its outer side and its gum side, said backing having an inner wall portion, a pair of opposed side walls extending outwardly from said inner wall portion, and an inclined wall portion extending outwardly from and at an obtuse angle to said inner wall portion, said side walls having tapered means on their faces spaced from and substantially parallel with said inclined wall portion, and an artificial tooth whose body portion is fitted into said backing and is provided with tapered means to engage the means on said backing, said tooth having a root extension projecting beyond the backing for engagement with the gum.

5. An artificial tooth comprising a tooth body and a backing, said body having an extended gum-engaging portion and a substantially convexed occlusally disposed portion, said backing having a complementary substantially concaved portion, said tooth body and backing having opposed means constructed and arranged to permit the tooth body to be rocked into operative position with the backing, while said extended portion of said body is rockably engaged with the gum and the backing is rigidly supported in spaced relation to the gum 6. A dental bridge having an artificial tooth-retaining shell open at its outer side and its gum side, said shell having an inner wall, a pair of opposed side walls projecting outwardly therefrom, and a transverse wall,- the latter extending between said side walls and extending forwardly from said inner wall, said side walls being provided with ribs which have their upper and lower sides disposed at an acute angle to said inner wall; and an artificial tooth having a body portion snugly fitting intosaid shell and provided with inclined grooves tightly re ceiving said ribs, said tooth having a portion projecting beyond said gum side of the shell for snug contact with the gun, both of said ribs and grooves bong widened toward said inner wall to not'only effect a wedging action when the tooth is seated in the shell, but to permit the insertion of said tooth into the shell by canting it from an inclined position to a vertical position.

7. An artificialtooth comprising a toothbody and a backing structure arranged to support said 'tootlrbody, each having op posed faces constructed and arranged to permit the tooth-body to be rocked intooperative position to slide upon the backing structure, while the root end of said toothbody is engaged in the gum socket, and the backing structure is rigidly supported in spaced relation to said gum socket.

8. Anartificial tooth comprising a toothbody and a backing structurearranged to support said tooth-body, each having opjposed faces constructed and arranged to permit the tooth-body to be rocked into operative positionto slide upon the backing structure, while the root end of said tooth body is engaged with the gum, and the backing structure is rigidly supported in spaced relation to said gum.

9. An interchangeable artificial tooth for bridgework secured in the mouth compris- 1ng a backing and a tooth bod the tooth body having a back ng-engaging surface and also a gum-engaging end shaped to cooperate with the 'gum in forming a pivot about which the tooth body may be rocked into and out of engagement with the backing while the latter is rigidly supported in spaced relation to the gum. I

10. A structure as specified in claim 9; said backing and tooth body having interlocking means interengaged by said rocking movement of the tooth body.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto affixed my signature.

' CLIFFORD S. KILE. 

